Speaker 1: Good morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tick is about how to stay afloat when life
Speaker 1: is overwhelming. I recently got a letter from a listener
Speaker 1: named Katie. She's a psychologist who works in private practice.
Speaker 1: She writes that she's realized she has a pretty intense
Speaker 1: tendency to overschedule. She's usually good about getting all the
Speaker 1: things on her list done, but when life happens, such
Speaker 1: as our entire family getting the flu, something that usually
Speaker 1: can work just does not. I'm in that exact situation
Speaker 1: right now, with about twenty one outstanding reports to write
Speaker 1: and a scheduled ten hours of writing time before I
Speaker 1: start billing again next week. The math doesn't work there. Basically,
Speaker 1: she writes, I'm really trying to manage my time better
Speaker 1: and set firmer boundaries, but Katie from two months ago
Speaker 1: definitely did not. So I'm facing a seemingly insurmountable amount
Speaker 1: of work to catch up on with not enough time
Speaker 1: to do it. Do you have any tips or resources
Speaker 1: for catching up after a time management slip up on
Speaker 1: the excessively busy weeks? What are the best ways to
Speaker 1: prioritize tasks that all need to be done now and
Speaker 1: somehow manage life, parenting, and self care. Also, I'm sure
Speaker 1: a lot of people can relate to Katie's situation. Many
Speaker 1: of us go through really intense times at work. Sometimes
Speaker 1: this is structural think accountants during busy season. Sometimes we've
Speaker 1: overcommitted in the past, and now we're stuck with these obligations.
Speaker 1: When something like illness or car trouble strikes, life can
Speaker 1: feel like a frantic negotiation with the clock. We've all
Speaker 1: been there, so I want to share what works for
Speaker 1: me when life and my workload seems overwhelming. I do
Speaker 1: these five things first. Prioritize sleep and exercise. I know
Speaker 1: this might sound like a luxury if you're swamped, but
Speaker 1: I have found that skimping on either of these just
Speaker 1: ruins me in terms of ability to focus. If I
Speaker 1: try to stay up until one am to get something done,
Speaker 1: it will take me three hours to do what would
Speaker 1: have taken me one hour at eight am after a
Speaker 1: full night's sleep. So I force myself to shut it down.
Speaker 1: I aim to be in my bed for at least
Speaker 1: seven hours. I also make time to run for at
Speaker 1: least twenty to thirty minutes each day. I generally feel
Speaker 1: better after, and when I feel better, life feels more manageable. Second,
Speaker 1: I make sure I know exactly what is on my plate.
Speaker 1: Unknown stuff is scarier than known stuff, So I make
Speaker 1: a list of what I have going on and when
Speaker 1: that stuff needs to be done. That way, I can
Speaker 1: make a wise plan, one that keeps me from doing
Speaker 1: stuff that's due Friday before stuff that must be done tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I can also judge what must be done by me
Speaker 1: and what can be passed a law. I can figure
Speaker 1: out what doesn't need to be done at all, or
Speaker 1: at least not before things calm down. If I've lived
Speaker 1: with that broken bench in my backyard for a year,
Speaker 1: I can live with it for a few more months too. Third,
Speaker 1: I make sure I have enough space to have a
Speaker 1: fighting shot at tackling the backlog. For listeners who don't
Speaker 1: have family obligations, this is probably straightforward. You just work
Speaker 1: longer hours or on the weekend. But if you need
Speaker 1: to make a six pm daycare pickup every day, that's
Speaker 1: a lot harder. For our listener, Katie, I asked if
Speaker 1: there was any time beyond the ten hours she thought
Speaker 1: she had available for writing the reports. When I've been swamped.
Speaker 1: I've talked with my husband and come to an agreement
Speaker 1: that he take the kids for say, four hours on
Speaker 1: the weekend so I can work. Then I'd then cover
Speaker 1: for him at some other point. Katie likewise told me
Speaker 1: that she worked out a deal with her family. As
Speaker 1: I pointed out, she spent a lot of time with
Speaker 1: her kids when they were sick, so sometimes this time
Speaker 1: needs to be made up. There's really no reason to
Speaker 1: feel guilty about that. Fourth, I resist the urge to
Speaker 1: get on top of email. First. It feels really productive
Speaker 1: to delete and answer emails, but email expands to fill
Speaker 1: all available space. I'm usually better off tackling the big
Speaker 1: things on the list first and then getting to the
Speaker 1: emails later during lower energy times than if I do
Speaker 1: this the other way around. Finally, it also helps to
Speaker 1: realize that busy seasons are generally temporary. Tax and auditing
Speaker 1: deadlines come and go, books and podcasts get launched into
Speaker 1: the world. That conference you're planning happens, and then it's over.
Speaker 1: Recognizing this can be helpful for understanding that there will
Speaker 1: be more time for things like getting together with friends,
Speaker 1: reading books, or catching up on your favorite shows later
Speaker 1: or at least between busy times if you're careful with scheduling.
Speaker 1: Our listener, Katie, was learning to be more careful to
Speaker 1: leave open space in her current schedule so future family
Speaker 1: illnesses could be taken in stride. The good news is
Speaker 1: that if you make wise time choices now going forward,
Speaker 1: things will get better. That little bit of hope can
Speaker 1: definitely help us stay afloat when life seems overwhelming. This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcast. At iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that before breakfas us is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.